Well I'm back. It's now been two months since my rectal pain began & it's been hell. First it was a sharp brief pain on the right side when I would pass stools. Occasional spotting of blood. I suffered for about a month, then went to my doctor. He said he thought he saw a fissure, & gave me Nifed/Lidocaine creams. I've been using them for 3 1/2 weeks now. Applying externally like the directions say. I saw my CRS last month, he didn't do a scope but said I have two small tags, which I knew. But said it would be more trouble for me to have them removed than leaving them on. I saw another primary care doc, she examined me (again no scope) and said she saw no evidence of a fissure, but acknowledged my two small skin tags looked a small bit inflamed. She suggested I try Witch Hazel pads, which I have been doing. I got some Prep H anti-itch cream, which was the only one with Hydrocortisone I could find. I've been using it sparingly. I am taking 1-2 sitz baths daily, 1-2 stool softeners, Metamucil capsule, & trying to make sure I get enough fiber. I'm now at the point where I'm just going to give up on all the so-called remedies, and just eat what I want to eat again, since adding fiber & stuff hasn't helped me a bit. I'm still in immense pain when I poop. Noone deserves to live like this. I hope after my CRS scopes me tomorrow he can tell me exactly finally what the hell is wrong, and what can help me get better. I'm so sick of this. I'm glad I'm unemployed right now because I couldn't work having this much pain in my butt with every bowel movement.

Yet, in the last few days, the sharp, piercing pain when passing stools is not getting any better. If anything, it's gotten worse or stayed the same. I am at a loss. I don't know what to do anymore. This is ruining my life, I am scared I have cancer. I had surgery to remove a small benign polyp last March, & it went well & I recovered fine. No indications of anything other than the polyp. My CRS scoped me in July, before all this latest trouble began, and said I looked fine. So what could have happened between July & October, when the pain started? I've never had such intense rectal pain like this, & basically it's every time I pass a stool.

I am going back to the CRS yet again tomorrow, will insist he scope me again to try and find out what is causing me so much pain when I pass stools. Hopefully he can do something for me to put me out of this misery. Not sure what it is. All I know is, when I pass stools, for during and for about 5-10 minutes after, I have a throbbing, burning pain in my lower rectum in addition to the sharp pain when passing the stool. I can't tell if it's coming from inside or outside. Last time I saw the CRS he was pretty dismissive, like he felt like it was no big deal, but I am going to lay it out for him tomorrow, & tell him how awful this is. I can't live like this.

If he won't help me, I will have to go to the ER for help. Maybe someone there can stop my pain. It's mildly painful when I contract my spincter, but mainly only when I pass stools and shortly thereafter. No pain otherwise, but that's enough!

I hope it's just a matter of trying a different cream or something, because if the Nifed/lido was going to work, wouldn't it have started to help 3 weeks in?

I also have HPV, diagnosed after a rectal pap was done by my doc a year or so ago, so I really hope this isn't cancer. Why me?

Oh to make matters even worse, the other day when I came home, I had a bowel movement, and there was quite a bit of blood. This is ruining my life mentall & emotionally I feel close to a total breakdown. I am obsessing over it & dreading bowel movements because of the fear of seeing blood & the pain.

If my CRS won't help me tomorrow, I will have to go to the ER. I can only see the one CRS because he's the only one I can afford in my area. I just hope this gets better. I've tried everything I know to do, & nothing helps. Nowhere to go but up, I guess from here.

Hy Alex!
As you see, some of us need more time to recover from this. I ve been told that with fissures you measure progress in weeks not in days and that about 4-6 weeks are needed to show the progress. But maybe you are right and it is time to change the ointmen if there is nota a slight change to the better. You still have nitro or dilt. to try. We understand the pain you have and the anxiety that goes wit it. If you are HPV positive, and your pap test came out negative (and I assume that it was negative) then you should not worry (I am not an expert but I was told so, as women have this tests every year or two). I know that you know that HPV infection do not mean you have cancer, but it is understandable that you worry a bit. To be sure, maybe just repeat the pap smear test every year or two to catch possible cell changes early. I had cervical carcinoma in situ 13 years ago and it was treated with simple operation thanks to routine pap tests it was caught early.
Try to relax and have confidence in your inner ability to heal, so many get healed from this and you will to. I wish you good luck with your CRS.

I am Joining Your Club!!! No change for me!! since October 8th 2013. Nothing works. Heading for dreaded surgery I guess!!!

Slow improvements for me but due to IBS it can vary. Last week had a lot of pain again after a BM to the point of nearly dancing around like Jim Carey in the Grinch when he's excited (just saw the movie), but just yesterday I had no pain at all during my two BM's and could hardly feel the fissure all day. Today another slightly dodgy BM but still seems all together.
It's been 4 months for me, albeit minor tears then healing before full tear and visit to the doctor on the 13th November. I started Nitro the same day and using it until the 13th Jan max. I have recently only been using it once a day, partly as I hate meds, but also feeling improved and felt at times the nitro has caused irritation itself.